I think that we can categorize three kinds of references to names of people in the Panama Papers:
1) People who want to hide their wealth or who want to avoid taxation.
2) people who want to open secret accounts to spend on covert intelligence operations. This may be the case of Gulf rulers. People have been asking me: why would Gulf rulers open up secret accounts to avoid taxes when they don't have taxes? I say: it is not for the same reason that people open up secret accounts.
3) People who open up secret accounts to avoid US-imposed sanctions. This is one example: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies in the Seychelles to buy aviation fuel and avoid international sanctions, the French newspaper Le Monde reported".
1) People who want to hide their wealth or who want to avoid taxation.
2) people who want to open secret accounts to spend on covert intelligence operations. This may be the case of Gulf rulers. People have been asking me: why would Gulf rulers open up secret accounts to avoid taxes when they don't have taxes? I say: it is not for the same reason that people open up secret accounts.
3) People who open up secret accounts to avoid US-imposed sanctions. This is one example: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government used Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies in the Seychelles to buy aviation fuel and avoid international sanctions, the French newspaper Le Monde reported".
